"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

written in 1951 by

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flautist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1 ...

. The song was originally titled "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas".

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

was the first to record and release the song in 1951. The song has become a standard recorded by many artists. It was first a hit for

and the Fontane Sisters with

Mitchell Ayres Mitchell Ayres (December 24, 1909 – September 5, 1969) was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer. He is best known for his many years of work with Perry Como on radio, records, and television and as the musical condu ...

& His Orchestra on September 18, 1951, released on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

as 47-4314 (45 rpm) and 20-4314 (78 rpm).

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

recorded a version on October 1, 1951 on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, which was also popular.

History

Background and writing

A popular belief in Yarmouth,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, holds that Willson wrote the song while staying in Yarmouth's Grand Hotel. The song refers to a "tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well..."; the park being Frost Park, directly across the road from the Grand Hotel, which still operates in a newer building on the same site as the old hotel. It also makes mention of the five and ten which was a store operating in Yarmouth at the time. It is also possible that the "Grand Hotel" Willson mentions in the song was inspired by the Historic Park Inn Hotel in his hometown of Mason City,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, US. The Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining hotel in the world designed by architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

, and is situated in downtown Mason City overlooking Central Park.

Perry Como version

and The Fontane Sisters with

& His Orchestra released their cover of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" on September 18, 1951. Their edition became one of the most successful versions of the song, which is still widely played today, with over 382 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

as of May 1, 2024. The song was used in the 2004 film '' The Polar Express''.

Weekly charts

Certifications

Michael Bublé version

Canadian singer

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

's version was first released on October 24, 2011, as the first track of Bublé's ''

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

'' album. However, it was then re-released as the album's second single on November 18, 2012, achieving greater success. In the UK, the song peaked at number 6 in 2022.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Meghan Trainor version

In 2020, Meghan Trainor recorded a version of the song for her album '' A Very Trainor Christmas''. This version peaked at number 27 on the Holiday Digital Songs chart.

In popular culture

Meredith Willson incorporated the song into his 1963 Broadway musical '' Here's Love'', where it is sung in

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

to the newly composed song "Pine Cones and Holly Berries".

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

recorded the song for his 1986 album '' Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis''; this version gained popularity after its inclusion in the film '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York''. Gradually, Mathis's recording began to receive wide

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

airplay, and in later years this version became a Top 10 Christmas hit.

References

{{authority control 1951 songs American Christmas songs Bing Crosby songs Johnny Mathis songs Perry Como songs Reprise Records singles Songs written by Meredith Willson